Air distributing apparatus for ventilating systems



Sept. 7, 1943. A. s. CHIPLEY AIR DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FORIVENTILAI'ING SYSTEMS Filed June 30., 1941 0 0 0 0 O O O O. O O O O 0 O O O O 0 O 0 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O O ,0 O 0 O O 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O O O O 0 O O O 0 O 0 O 0 O 0 0 O 0 O 0 O 0 0 0 O 0 0 O O 0 O O O 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 O 0 O 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0" 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0000000 0000000 0000000 0000000 0000 000 000000 000 000 U00000OVM 000 000 0000000 000 000 0000000 000 0000 AL 0 0 0 0 WP by 000Au0 O O O O O O O .O O O O O O O O .O O O O O O O O O O 0 0 O O ventilating air into enclosures.

Patentetlsept. 7, 1943 Ant DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS FOR vENma'rmG srs'rn us Alfred S. Chipley, Chicago. Ill., assignor to Burvgess Battery Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application June 30,1941, Serial No. 400,480

3 Claims.

This invention concerns the distribution of The specification herein formspart of a divisional application, the invention being described ir'i'the co-pending application of Alfred S. Chipley, Serial No. 245,807, flied December 15, 1938, now Patent 2,251,660, granted August 5, 1941.

The manner of introduction of the air into an enclosure to be ventilated has an important hearing on the suitability of every ventilating system.

ingenuity has heretofore been applied in the solution of the many problems involved in this-operation. The difficulties to be overcome have been greatly multiplied by the advent of air conditioning whereby the ventilating air is cooled, when required, to maintain the desired conditions within the enclosure. An ideal air-distributing arrangementis one which delivers conditioned ventilating air into the enclosure in suilicient quantities without concomitant formation of sensible drafts and which will maintain uniformity-within the ity conditions and wholesomeness of the 'air.

Divers forms of apparatus have been developed and commercially adopted which are capable of satisfactorily distributing ventilating air into an enclosure. The most desirable forms, however, are expensive and occupy space which would otherwise be available for useby the persons or materials within the. enclosure.

. A number of factors must be considered and much panel controls the rate of flow of air from the duct to the baiile turning means. The invention is fully described hereinafter in conjunction with, th accompanying drawing, in which,.

- Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in sectio showing an air-distributing panel embodying the,-

invention installed in a vehicle;

' Fig.2 is a fragmentary plan view of the panel showing its details of construction:

Fig. 3 is a detailed'sectional view. taken at line 3-4 of Fig. 2; and I Fig 4is a detailed sectional view taken at the Pay space is at a premium in vehicles and vessels so that ventilating equipment occupying a substantial'porticn of such space is not desirable.

' At the same time, the\ height of motor cars and tors.

buses and railway'cars is limited by various fac- Buses and railway cars generally have been ventilated simply by blowing air into one end of the enclosure, no attempts having been made to effectively distribute the air to obtain uniform enclosure with respect to temperature and humid-.-

It is an object of this invention to provide'airdistributing apparatus which will distribute a predetermined quantity of ventilating air into an enclosure without drafts and which will operate to so distribute the air that uniformconditions of temperature, humidity and wholesomenes will obtain within the space. Further objects include the provision of such apparatus which occupies a minimum of space and is in a simple and inexpensive form.

' In carrying out theinvention, a panel of perforated sheet metal or other thin self-sustaining material is used in association with a closed distributing duct of relatively small cross-sectional area. Ventilating air is continuouslysupplied to the distributing duct and means are provided for turning the rapidly flowing stream ofair to cause it to pass through the perforations of the panel into the enclosure to be ventilated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the panel. An ordination of narrow bame surfaces, provided by unrolled expanded sheet material arranged adjacent the perforated panel, comtemperature and wholesomeness conditions within the enclosure.

An eifective air-distributing arrangement which occupies a minimum of space is illustratedin the drawing. Outer shell I and inner shell 2 form the body of the-motor bus shown in Fig. 1. A closed plenum chamber or ditributing duct 3 is formed subj'acent roof I of the bus. Channel members 5 and Lwhich may be integral with inher shell 2, form the side walls of the distributing duct and air-distributing panel 1 forms the floor of the duct. Ventilating air, which may be conditioned as desired, is continuously supplied to distributing duct 3 at either thefront or the rear end of the bust body by means ofa suitable blower indicated diagrammatically at I i and supply 'duct II. This air passes into the body enclosure through distributing element I. v

The details of air-distributing unit I are shown in Figs. 2-4. The body of this unit comprises a perforated sheet panel 8 (preferably of sheet metal although other self-sustaining sheet material may be used with slight modifications in the details of construction), this panel having retroverted marginal portions adapted to receive the ends of perforated panel 0 to hold the latter in position. A layer of unrolled expanded sheet material' I0 is sandwiched betweenthe perforated panels I and 8. As is indicated in the detail flsarcs of the drawing, this expanded sheet material,

' which may be expanded paper, for example, is

prises. the turning means. 'A second perforated 66,

made up of a large numberof narrow bellies or webs which are angularl disposed to the plane of the layer and thus of the perforated panels 8 and 9. If expanded paper or other only semirigid sheet material is used, it is preferably var- At the same time, it is desirable that approximately equal portions of the ventilating air enter the enclosure at all parts of distributing unit 1. Both of these results are accomplished by the combination of the invention. The panel 9 is perforated only to such an extent in relation to the volumes of air supplied to the distributing duct that an appreciable static pressure is maintained within the duct. This condition results in a positive flow of air through the distributing panel throughout its area. Frictional resistance between the baflle surfaces and the panels 8 and 9 is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. With full expansion of the expanded sheet material, the baflles may be brought to a position almost perpendicular to the general plane of the material and the ventilating air introduced into the space to be ventilated at substantially right angles to the distributing unit.

I claim:

1. In a ventilating system including a distributing duct having at least one side exposed to an enclosure to be ventilated and being otherwise closed and means for continuously supplying ventilating air to said duct, a perforated panel forming a wall of said duct in an exposed side thereof, a layer of unrolled expanded sheet material interiorly contiguous said panel with to flow within the duct also contributes to uniformity of flow through the distributing panels since the effect of such resistance is to counteract'the tendency'of the air, due to its inertia, to flow through the duct to the rear of the vehicle.

The air in passing through the perforations of a single thin panel, such as panel 9, would tend to drift along the under surface of this panel in the same direction as the direction of flow of the air within distributing duct 3. The expanded material is so oriented in the assembly that its structure, including particularly the multiplicity of smallbaflle members, is disposed predominantly transversely of the air stream within the duct. The purpose of the expanded sheet material is to change the, direction of flow of the'air which has passed through the perforations in panel 9 and direct it downwardly through the perforations in panel 8 and into the enclosure. Each one of the multiplicity of angularly disposed baiiles of the expanded sheet material operates to turn downwardly a small part of the air flowing through the panel 9. The relationship respect to said duct, the orientation of said expanded sheet material being such that the structure thereof is disposed predominantly transversely of the air stream within said duct, and a second perforated panel substantially coextensive with said first mentioned perforated panel and contiguous to said expanded sheet material and disposed on the side thereof opposite said first-mentioned perforated panel.

2. In air-distributing apparatus comprising a pair of spaced, substantially parallel and coextensive perforated panels forming the exposed Wall of an otherwise closed ventilating air distributing duct, a layer of unrolled expanded sheet material arranged between said panels with the structure thereof oriented predominantly transversely of the air stream within the duct.

3. In a ventilating system including a distributing duct having at least one side exposed to an enclosure to be ventilated and being otherwise closed and means for continuously supplying ventilating air to said duct, a pair of spaced, substantially parallel and coextensive perforated panels forming a wall of said duct in an exposed side thereof, thetotal open area of the perfora- 'tions in the inner panel of said pair being so correlated with the volumes of air being supplied to the duct that an appreciable pressure is maintained therein, and a layer of unrolled expanded sheet material disposed between said panels and substantially coextensive therewith.

ALFRED S.CHIPLEY. 

